Method of manufacturing a double sheet glazing unit



1951 e. KILIAN ETAL 2,968,895

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A DOUBLE SHEET GLAZING UNIT Filed July 27, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 V F .2 5 g a 4 jm entan' Y Jan. 24, 1961 G. KILIAN EIAL 2,968,895

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A DOUBLE SHEET GLAZING UNIT Filed July 27, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 24, 1961 G. KILIAN ET AL METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A DOUBLE SHEET GLAZING UNIT Filed July 27, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jan. 24, 1961 G. KILIAN ETAL 2,968,895

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A DOUBLE SHEET GLAZING UNIT Filed July 27, 1956 4 Sheets-Shet 4 means arranged between the sheets.

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A DOUBLE SHEET GLAZINGUNIT Georg Kilian and Franz Mainz, Witten (Ruhr), Germany, assignors to LlbbEY-OWBHSeFOId Glass -.Company, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Qhio Filed July 27, 1956, Ser. No. 600,533 Claims priority, application Germany July '30, 1955 8 Claims. (Cl. 49-82) The invention relates to double sheet glazing units, a method for manufacturing these units.

In known methods two .spaced apartglass sheets are joined at their edges by a welding operation advancing along the edges, .the spacing of the two sheets being effected by spacer means, which are moved from between the sheets as the welding process advances along the edges of the sheets. .Known methods of this kind assure an even spacing of the glass sheets, but have the disadvantage that for properly welding the sheet edges either a glass or metal strip has to be welded between the sheet edges or the welding temperature has to be extremely accurately adjusted, if deformations of the glazing unit are .to be avoided and a tight seal is to be assured. In addition .to this the glazing units manu factured in accordance with these known methods do not comprise acircumferential protruding edge portion, which is most desirable because glazing units having circumferential protruding edge portions may much easier be mounted into window frames or the like.

In accordance with the invention the sheet edges, after beingheated up to softening temperature, are pressed or worked together by two presser rolls, engaging rthe outer surfaces of the edge portions. Thus the manufacture of double glazed units is greatly simplified. A close bond between the sheets is assured due to the pressing of the protruding edge portions by the presser rolls. The protruding edge portion formed by the two presser rolls may be positioned in the middle of the rim of the glazing unit. Preferably, however, one of the presser rolls is arranged so as to contact one of the sheets substantially in the face plane of said sheet, whereas the other one of the two presser rolls is mounted offset from the face of the other sheet a distance sufiicient for crimping or heading over the well heated edge of the last men tioned sheet towards the first mentioned sheet to such an extent that both edges can be pressed together by the two presser rolls. The new method makes it possible to keep the temperature of the edge portion of that sheet, which substantially retains its plane surface relatively low and to thereby avoid undesirable twisting and'warping of the double glazed unit.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention the sheets to be united are, during the process, moved in upright position on a guiding track through a furnace and are urged by guide rolls or the like towards spacer A-very simple and reliable guidance of the sheets is thus obtained and deformations of the sheets are avoided.

The upper and lower edges of the vertically disposed sheets are preferably guided by rollers when moving through the furnace. The edges are joined together at welding stations interposed between adjacent rollers of each of the guiding tracks. After the welding of the upper and lower edges the sheets reach an operational station at which their two vertical edges which are still open are welded together with the aid of compulsory nited States Patent guided verticallymovable welding means. These welding means preferably comprise a swingable mounted spacer roll which can be swung into and out of a position in which it protrudes between the vertical edges, a'burner unit anda set of presser rolls for pressing the edges together.

By inserting smallcapillary tubular members or'the like between the edges to be welded together it is possible to provide apertures through which during the tempering period the equalization of pressure takes place and through which a dry gas e.g. dry air may be fed into the annealed glazing-unit. Then the openings will be closed or sealed to be airand water-tight by a specialprocedure not described.

.Anembodiment of the invention will now'be described by way ofexample inconnection with the accompanying drawings.

of Fig. 3.

Figure 5 is an elevational view showing another part of the guiding means on which the double glazing units are supported after welding of their horizontal edge portions.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI--VI of Fig. 5.

Figure 7 is an elevational view of a glass sheet at the welding station showing a modified arrangement of the presser rolls.

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken along line VIII-'- VIII of Fig. 7.

Figure 9 shows the apparatus for welding the vertical edges of the double glazing unit in an elevational view.

Figure 10 is an elevational view of a modified form of the apparatus shown in Fig. 9, viewed in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 9 but without the spacer rolls.

Figure 11 is a cross sectional view of a portion of a double glazing unit according to the invention.

In the diagrammatic view of Figs. 1 and 2 of a tunnel furnace four operational stations or zones are provided inside the furnace: a preheating zone A, a welding zone B, in which the upper and lower edges of a pair of glass sheets are united, a second welding zone C, in which the two lateral edges of the sheets are united, and a cooling zone D. The furnace which is designated by the reference numeral 1 is supported by a frame '2. The spaced apart glass sheets 3, 4 are fed into the furnace in an upright or vertical position. The mechanism for moving the glass sheets into and through the furnace is not shown and forms no part of the present invention. A suitable pusher type mechanism may be used for this purpose. When passing through the tunnel furnace 1 the sheets travel between lower and upper guiding means 5, 6. The guiding means 5 and 6 are preferably so arranged as to be movable towards or away from one another in order to accommodate sheets of different height between them. Adjustment of the guiding means can for instance be effected by changing the position of the guiding means 5 6 on the supporting arms 7. The travelling sheets can either be supported by suspension from the upper guiding means, or as it is shown in the modifications described below. be supported on the lower guid- ..zone.

been closed, reached the desired working temperature, they are pushed along the roller guide way into the welding means. In the embodiment of the invention shown as example in Figures 1 and 2 the double sheet glazing units are made from two sheets of equal dimensions, the edge portion of the finished glazing unit being positioned in the middle of the rim of the glazing unit.

In Figs. 3 to 6 the two sheets 3, 4 of different size to be united travel on a roller guide way comprising a plurality of sets of supporting rolls 8, 9. Corresponding rolls 8, 9 can, as shown in the drawing be used in the upper guiding means for guiding the upper edges of the sheets. Spacer rolls 10 protruding into the space-between two juxtaposed sheets are also provided. The lateral surfaces of these disk like rolls 10 converge from the center toward the circumference so that these lateral surfaces only come in contact with the edge portions of the sheets later to be united.

Two supporting rolls 8, 9 and a spacer roll 10 disposed between these two supporting rolls form a. set of rolls arranged on-a single shaft 11 which is fastened by means of supporting members 12 to a beam 13 horizontally extending through the tunnel furnace. The glass sheets 3, 4 are held in their upright position by means of guide rolls 14, 14 in contact with the edge portions of the outer surfaces of the sheets. The guide rolls are rotatably fastened to horizontal supporting beams 15 extending parallel to the beams 13. Preferably a pair of opposed guiding rolls 14, 14 is arranged adjacent to the supporting and spacer rolls 8, 9, 10.

After entering the furnace the temperature on the outer surfaces and on the inner surfaces of the sheets will rise at a different rate, so that heat motion will occur in the sheets until the temperatures on both sides of thersheets are equally high. To avoid breaking of the sheets due to undesired deformations it has been found of advantage to .swingably support guide rolls disposed nearthe furnace entrance and do this preferably in such a way that .these rolls when swung out by the heat motion are biassed to return to their normal position.

At the beginning of the operation the door 16 of the tunnel furnace is opened. A pair of sheets is then placed on the roller guide way and pushed into the preheating As soon as the sheets have, after'the door has ing zone B. During their travel through this zone the upper and lower edges of the sheets are moved successively or simultaneously past the welding stations 17, where these edges are welded together.

After leaving the last ones of the series of supporting and spacer roller sets the sheets move towards a spacer rod 18 (Figs. 7 and 8) provided with a hook shaped extension 19 extending horizontally through the burner zone. This spacer rod is disposed in line with the spacer rolls so that it enters the space between the sheets when the sheets are moving past it. These rods serve to keep the sheets from being pushed into contact with one another when the lower resp. upper edge zones of the sheets are heated by the flames of the burners 20 up to such a temperature that they may subsequently be pressed together by the driven presser rolls 21, 21' (see Figs. 5 to 8). The presser rolls are disposed opposite one another on the upper and lower edge portions of the outer surfaces of the sheets. One of the presser rolls is arranged in an offset position relative to the corresponding guide roll 14 or 14'. This offset arrangement of one of the guide rolls makes it possible to obtain double glazed units in which one outer side of the welded edge portion is aligned with the outer surface of one of the sheets (see Fig. 6). Thereby the burners should be ad justed in such a manner that the edge of the sheet of the finished glazing unit which substantially retains its plane surface, will be less heated than the edge of the other sheet which is to be headed towards the first men- 1 schematic views of Figs. 7 and 8. Conventional burners and drive mechanisms may be used.

After passing the burners 20 and the presser rolls 21, 21 the sheets now welded together at their upper and lower edges are moved into the operational zone C. During such movement the sheets are supported .on rollers 22. In the zone C the lateral edges of the sheets are welded by welding devices or means 23 which can be moved vertically along the vertical edges of the sheets.

The vertically moving welding means is mounted on carrier means 24 (Figs. 9 and 10) which extend through the wall of the furnace 1. Preferably tubular carrier means 24 are used which can be raised and lowered by suitable mechanism. The welding means preferably comprise a spacer device usually a roll 25 (Fig. 9) which is swingably mounted, so that it can be swung into and out of the space between the lateral edges of the two sheets. Burners 26 are mounted below the spacer means. The gas supply pipe for the burners can for instance go through the hollow carrier means. Below the burner two presser rolls 27, 27' are arranged, one of which (27) is mounted adjustably so that it can be moved towards and away from the other presser roll, if the thickness of the glass sheets varies. 'Ihe shafts of the rolls 27, 27 are provided with meshing spur pinions 28, 28' so that only one of the pinions has to be connected with a driving mechanism. Various driving mechanism of known type may be used. For instance the drive may be effected by means of a wire or a thin belt of tubular cross section or by means of a flexible shaft or by shaft and gear drive through the tubular carrier means.

In the modification shown, two welding means are mounted on said carrier means. One of the welding units is facing towards the entrance of the furnace and the other one towards the outlet end of the furnace (see Fig. 1). This arrangement makes it possible to simultaneously weld the forward facing edge of one glazing unit and the rearward facing edge of a glazing unit of which the forward edge has already been welded in a previous worksaid pairs of sheets also during movement of the sheets to thereby press said marginal edge portions together and fuse them to one another, discontinuing said horizontal movement of said pairs of sheets after said upper and lower marginal edge portions have become fused together, and applying heat and then pressure against the outer sides of the vertically extending marginal edge portions of said pairs of sheets to fuse said vertical marginal edge portions to one another while said pairs of sheets remain stationary.

2. A method of producing double walled glazing units from substantially rectangular hard sheets of glass as claimed in claim 1, including the additional step of guiding the upper and lower marginal edge portions of the pairs of glass sheets during horizontal movement thereof to maintain said pairs of sheets in a vertical position and the sheets of each pair in spaced parallel relations.

3. A method of producing double walled glazing units from substantially rectangular hard sheets of glass as claimed in claim 2, in which the guiding of the upper and lower marginal edge portions of said pairs of sheets consists in yie'dably urging the upper and lower marginal edge portions of the glass sheets of each pair toward one another and simultaneously applying a resisting force against the inner surfaces of the said glass sheets to limit movement of the sheets toward one another.

4. A method of producing double walled glazing units from substantially rectangular hard sheets of glass, comprising supporting pairs of said glass sheets arranged in face-to-face and spaced relationship on edge in a vertical position so that the entire Weight of the pairs of glass sheets is resting on the lower edges of said glass sheets, moving said pairs of sheets in a horizontal direction parallel to their face plane, progressively applying heat to the upper and lower horizontal marginal edge portions of the so-supported pairs of sheets during movement thereof to soften the marginal edge portions of said sheets, progressively applying a rolling pressure against the outer sides of the softened marginal edge portions of said pairs of sheets also during movement of the sheets to thereby press said marginal edge portions together and fuse them to one another, discontinuing said horizontal movement of said pairs of sheets after said upper and lower marginal edge portions have become fused together, and progressviely applying heat and then rolling pressure against the outer sides of the vertically extending marginal edge portions of said pairs of sheets to fuse said vertical marginal edge portions to one another while said pairs of sheets remain stationary.

5. A method of producing double walled glazing units from substantially rectangular hard sheets of glass as claimed in claim 4, including the additional step of guiding the upper and lower marginal portions of the pairs of glass sheets during horizontal movement thereof to maintain said pairs of sheets in a vertical position and the sheets of each pair in spaced parallel relation.

6. A method of producing double walled glazing units from substantially rectangular hard sheets of glass as claimed in claim 5, in which the guiding of the upper and lower marginal edge portions of said pairs of sheets consists in yieldably urging the upper and lower marginal edge portions of the glass sheets of each pair toward one another and simultaneously applying a resisting force against the inner surfaces of the said glass sheets to limit movement of the sheets toward one another.

7. A method of producing double Walled glazing units from substantially rectangular hard sheets of glass, comprising supporting pairs of said glass sheets arranged in face-to-face and spaced relationship in a vertical position, one sheet of each pair being relatively larger than the other sheet of said pair, moving said pairs of sheets in a horizontal direction parallel to their face plane, applying heat to the upper and lower horizontal marginal edge portions of the so-supported pairs of sheets during their movement to soften said marginal edge portions, with the marginal edge portions of the larger sheet of each pair being subjected to a greater degree of heat than the marginal edge portions of the smaller sheet, applying pressure against the outer sides of the softened marginal edge portions of said pair of sheets also during movement of the sheets to thereby bend the marginal edge portions of the larger sheet toward and into fusing engagement with the marginal edge portions of the smaller sheet, discontinuing said horizontal movement of said pairs of sheets after said upper and lower marginal edge portions have become fused together, and applying differential heating to the outer sides of the vertically extending marginal edge portions of the pairs of glass sheets, and applying pressure to the marginal edge portions of the larger sheet of each pair of sheets to bend said marginal edge portions toward and into fusing engagement with the marginal edge portions of the smaller sheet while said sheets remain stationary so that the line of joinder between the marginal edge portions of the two sheets will be off-set to one side of the centerline between said glass sheets.

8. A method of producing double walled glazing units from substantially rectangular hard sheets of glass, comprising supporting pairs of said glass sheets arranged in face-to-face and spaced relation in a vertical position, one sheet of each pair being relatively larger than the other sheet of said pair, and each pair of sheets being so supported that the entire weight of the pair of sheets is resting on the lower edges of said sheets, with the marginal edge portions of the larger sheet projecting beyond the marginal edge portions of the smaller sheet, moving said pairs of sheets in a horizontal direction parallel to their face plane, progressively applying heat to the upper and lower horizontal marginal edge portions of the so-supported pairs of sheets during their movement to soften said marginal edge portions, the marginal edge portions of the larger sheet of each pair being subjected to a greater degree of heat than the marginal edge portions of the smaller sheet, progressively applying a rolling pressure against the outer sides of the softened marginal edge portions of said pair of sheets also during movement of the sheets to thereby bend the marginal edge portions of the larger sheet toward and into fusing engagement with the marginal edge portions of the smaller sheet, discontinuing said horizontal movement of said pairs of sheets after said upper and lower marginal edge portions have become fused together, progressively applying diiferential heating to the outer sides of the vertically extending marginal edge portions of the pairs of glass sheets, and progressively applying a rolling pressure to the marginal edge portions of the larger sheet of each pair of sheets to bend said marginal edge portions toward and into fusing engagement with the marginal edge portions of the smaller sheet while said sheets remain stationary so that the line of joinder between the marginal edge portions of the two sheets will be off-set to one side of the center-line between said glass sheets.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,124,778 Meuler Jan. 12, 1915 1,448,351 Kirlin Mar. 13, 1923 1,827,914 Scism Oct. 20, 1931 2,116,297 Aurien May 3, 1938 2,193,393 Danner Mar. 12, 1940 2,398,525 Gray Apr. 16, 1946 2,521,048 Day Sept. 5, 1950 2,624,978 Hohmann Jan. 13, 1953 2,624,979 Clever et al Jan. 13, 1953 2,688,824 Badger et a1. Sept. 14, 1954 2,736,075 Baker Feb. 28, 1956 2,761,248 Crowley et al. Sept. 4, 1956 2,761,249 Olson et a1. Sept. 4, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 542,258 Belgium Oct. 22, 1955 (Abstract found in Belgium Recoeil des Brevets dlnvention, 1955, volume 10, pp. 1774-1775.) (Corresponding to Australian Patent No. 203,179, Aug. 15, 19 56.) 

